VIRTUAL CLINICAL EXCURSIONS is an innovative CD-ROM/workbook package that makes textbook content come alive and diminishes anxiety about entering the clinical setting. VCE helps bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world by introducing you to clinical settings and critical thinking before you actually start clinical rotations — making the transition from nursing student to caregiver a smoother process. In this virtual hospital setting, you will interact with a variety of patients and gain valuable experience with documentation, communication, prioritization, medication safety, critical thinking, patient education, and care planning.

The realistic environment gives you the opportunity to monitor and care for one or more patients during three 45-minute periods of care within a 12-hour shift. Real-world nursing scenarios challenge you to set priorities for care, collect data, analyze and interpret data, and reach conclusions about complex problems within a health-illness transition. The highly engaging format encourages active learning and provides opportunities to collect and process data for evidence-based patient care; work with data entry and retrieval screens; access available information resources; understand hospital information systems; manage information for decision-making; and maintain and improve your core computing skills. The software allows you to access realistic information essential for patient care, including: charts, medical administration records, electronic patient records, video clips of nurse-client interactions, and other related materials. Augments knowledge of physical assessment by allowing you to examine and document vital signs, as well as assess information related to the head and neck, chest, back and spine, upper extremities, abdomen, pelvic, and lower extremities. Includes 200 NCLEX® examination-style questions based on the VCE patients.

Six unique new patients/cases feature new patient data in the Electronic Patient Record, Patient Charts, KARDEX, and Medication Administration Record. New flash-based technology makes the program easier to use and offers seamless navigation. A new Medication Room introduces you to a wide variety of drug storage areas, such as a Unit Dosage Cabinet, Automated Dispensing System, IV Storage, and a Refrigerator. A medication administration feature enables you to select, prepare, and administer medications. Over 50 common medication errors embedded within the software challenge you to think critically about safe medication practices and follow safe medication standards. A Medication Scorecard provides instant feedback on what medications you administered correctly and which medications you administered incorrectly. The Examination Report checklist tracks your performance on Baseline and Focused assessments. You can now leave the software program at any time and return later to pick up where you left off without losing any information. The workbook includes time icons that indicate how long it will take to complete a particular exercise. Icons for linked activities alert you when a particular workbook exercise is linked to another exercise and cannot be completed independently.